Indeed, he is out of options. I think he's been designated for assignment more than once in his career. The Rays were able to keep him in their organization because he cleared waivers and was willing to accept assignment(s) to AAA.

Actually, I believe the pinch-hit HR was against the Yankees with two outs in the ninth that game where the Rays rallied to make the playoffs on the final day of the season. He also homered off Thornton last year, it was a 3-run shot and not in a pinch-hitting role.

Grr! I was lazy, I guess.

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Ridiculousness across all sports:

(1) "You have no valid opinion because you never played the game."
(2) "Stats are irrelevant. This guy just doesn't know how to win."

I know I'm nitpicking here, but DeAza was on the team last year and we knew he was going to be starting this year. He's had a great season and is definitely a surprise. Reed was also going to be on the team this year as well. The 2 guys who have been surprising are Nate Jones and Quintana. But those are pitchers. There is nothing when it comes to position players. Escobar might have been useful, but he's a maybe at best. They have no position players ready to come up and take a spot on the bench or fill in for someone if there's an injury, and that's pretty sad.

There should be a constant stream of both position and pitchers ready yearly, to at the bare minimum, come up and fill a bench slot adequately. Pitchers were able to fulfill that task this year, position players have not been able to do this.

Indeed, he is out of options. I think he's been designated for assignment more than once in his career. The Rays were able to keep him in their organization because he cleared waivers and was willing to accept assignment(s) to AAA.

Dan Johnson turns 33 tomorrow, I'm guessing he's been out of options for a very long time. If he were to come up and suck for a few days, my guess is he would be released almost immediately.

That being said, he's OPS'ing .907 down at Charlotte and we have nothing else. Maybe he can help for a week or two; it's worth a shot if Paulie is out and/or we can't acquire anything better.

Actually, I believe the pinch-hit HR was against the Yankees with two outs in the ninth that game where the Rays rallied to make the playoffs on the final day of the season.

This is what I was referring to. As it stands we have no one on the bench who can hit for power. Pretty much what you hope for with our pinch hitters is that they can come in, hit a single, and then maybe someone else can drive them in. Flowers doesn't count.

I never meant to imply that he's some savior or a great player, but he is a left handed bat capable of hitting a homerun. He's also been doing pretty well in AAA. Given the option of having either Hudson or him coming off the bench, I'd much rather have Johnson.

Other than that, we're on the same side in this debate. I suppose Dan Johnson could help the Sox, but I wouldn't bank on it. He's never been good at the MLB level.

He's also never been fully healthy at the MLB level. This year, he seems to be finally 100% healthy. The guy has some of the worst luck I've ever seen in the injury department. Eye problems, hip labrum issues, wrist problems, etc. and some of them under weird circumstances like getting plunked by Matt Capps or getting sprayed in the eye with sunblock spray. The details of Dan Johnson's injury plagued career are detailed here in this interesting article:

The truth is, we may never know what kind of player Dan Johnson could have been if he stayed healthy his whole career. It's not unreasonable to think that a fully healthy Dan Johnson is now reaching the potential he once had. The other side of the coin is that he is just having a career year down there. Regardless of why he is hitting this year, the bottom line is that he is hitting and I think he might be able to help this team. He likely can handle the bat better than Jordan Danks, Tyler Flowers, or Olmedo. He also has a very solid .396 OBP to go along with his other solid offensive numbers. On a weak bench like ours, it might be worth giving him a shot. Whether we see him soon or on September 1st when rosters expand, it is likely we will find out this year if he has any value.

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The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done." -George Carlin

He's also never been fully healthy at the MLB level. This year, he seems to be finally 100% healthy. The guy has some of the worst luck I've ever seen in the injury department. Eye problems, hip labrum issues, wrist problems, etc. and some of them under weird circumstances like getting plunked by Matt Capps or getting sprayed in the eye with sunblock spray. The details of Dan Johnson's injury plagued career are detailed here in this interesting article:

The truth is, we may never know what kind of player Dan Johnson could have been if he stayed healthy his whole career. It's not unreasonable to think that a fully healthy Dan Johnson is now reaching the potential he once had. The other side of the coin is that he is just having a career year down there. Regardless of why he is hitting this year, the bottom line is that he is hitting and I think he might be able to help this team. He likely can handle the bat better than Jordan Danks, Tyler Flowers, or Olmedo. He also has a very solid .396 OBP to go along with his other solid offensive numbers. On a weak bench like ours, it might be worth giving him a shot. Whether we see him soon or on September 1st when rosters expand, it is likely we will find out this year if he has any value.

Our bench is so bad that I'm not against giving him a try. All I'm saying is he has no track record of success as a MLB pinch hitter, which would be his role if the Sox were to add him to the roster. So, any contributions he might make to the team will be a nice surprise from my perspective. I wouldn't expect much.

I wish I could see the play, I don't understand how a guy can throw an elbow at another guy's head and not get ejected unless a wild throw or something caused Konerko to get in his way and he was trying to protect himself (i.e. bringing up his arms / elbows to create a barrier...)

I wish I could see the play, I don't understand how a guy can throw an elbow at another guy's head and not get ejected unless a wild throw or something caused Konerko to get in his way and he was trying to protect himself (i.e. bringing up his arms / elbows to create a barrier...)